January 6, 2006 -- SHERMAN -- Austin College officials announced today that two-time Texas 5A State Championship football coach Ronnie Gage will take over the Austin College Kangaroos football program.
Gage, a native of Decatur, Texas, comes to the Austin College athletics department from Lewisville High School, where he served as Head Football Coach and Athletic Director from 1991-2005. While at Lewisville, Gage coached the Farmers to two Texas 5A State Championships and was named the District 5-5A Coach of the Year three times and the District 6-5A Coach of the Year twice.
Gage also earned District 5-4A Coach of the Year honors while serving as the Head Coach of Northwest High. Gage coached at Northwest from 1987-1990, and in his 18 years of coaching at the high school level compiled a career record of 137-60-9. Before becoming the Head Coach at Northwest, Gage served as Offensive Coordinator at Lewisville from 1984-1986, and as Running Backs Coach at Lewisville from 1981-1983. During that time the Farmers compiled 48-15-6 record and were two-time District Champions.
Gage’s teams have won five District Championships, were three times area finalists, and twice were regional finalists. Gage served as the President of the Texas High School Coaches Association in 2004 and 2005, and was the regional director in 1999. In that same year he was a recipient of the Fox Sports Coach Who Makes a Difference award. Gage has twice been named the Texas Sportswriters Coach of the Year, along with being honored twice as the Northeast Tarrant County Coach of the Year. In addition, he was named the Dallas All-Sports Association Coach of the Year in 1996, after leading Lewisville to a perfect 15-0 season and a state title.
“In addition to his coaching credits, we feel that Ronnie’s other attributes make him an excellent fit for this institution,” said Vice President for Student Affairs and Athletics Tim Millerick. “He is a fine man with a long record of success working with young people and he came with exceptional recommendations from sources both within and outside of the athletics community. He understands and is committed to the delicate balance between athletics and academics at an NCAA Division III institution. He has expressed excitement about the opportunities that lie ahead for the Austin College football program as it enters the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.”
Gage is a 1976 graduate of the University of North Texas, where he earned his degree in Physical Education & Health, and later earned his Masters of Education with a focus on Public School Administration from UNT in 1980.
Austin College athletic teams participate as a member of the NCAA Division III and the American Southwest Conference.
Austin College, affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA), is an independent, liberal arts college located 60 miles north of Dallas in Sherman, Texas. Chartered in November 1849, it is the oldest college in Texas under original charter and name as recognized by the State Historical Survey Committee.
U.S.News & World Report ranked Austin College among the top 100 colleges in the category of “Best Liberal Arts Colleges” for 2006. Austin College also ranked among the “Best 361 Colleges” in the 2006 Princeton Review, was included in Loren Pope's Colleges That Change Lives, and was profiled in the 2005 edition of Kaplan’s Insiders Guide to the 331 Most Interesting Colleges.
